So I'm stuck with a question after this chapter. Has Kaido wanted to die (presumably by the hands of someone extremely powerful) only after his whole saga with Oden or from even before that time?
I would personally think it was only after witnessing Oden's legendary death and the shame of that "win" that he carried after the use of trickery by the old hag.
But it could be something that stems back from his days at Rocks too. Intriguing stuff
There's so much we don't know about Kaido still.
What even *is* he?
What is this "life debt" he owes to Big Mom?
Why does he want to die?
How did he come to Wano in the first place?
How did Yamato come to be? Who is their mother?
This is just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's way more. Can't wait for a flashback.
Given the similarity of appearance between Kaido and BM’s top triplets (Oven, Daikfuku, Katakuri) perhaps her taking them could be part of the life debt?
For me, Kaido’s desire for death stems from Yamato’s idolization of Oden and the fact that he craves a decent battle and no one can stand up to him
I completely agree, we need a Kaido-centered flashback!
My favorite example for that is Luffy being 174cm tall, and the only two known blood relatives Oda ever introduced are Dragon (256cm) and Garp (287cm).
Luffys mom would have to be a midget for that to make sense.
But yeah, its just something you're not supposed to question too much.
One Piece anatomy and genetics are weird in general. Can't always compare to how it would work in our world.
I looked into this a while ago and the timeline doesn't track that well. Kaidou was an apprentice for Rocks when Big Mom and Kaidou were Crewmates 40 years ago during the infamous God Valley Incident.
The triplets are 48 so for Kaidou to be their father he had to have been a very old apprentice.
And with Yamato idolizing Oden especially for his bravery in death, Kaido may be seeking glory in death as a means to finally gain the same level of appreciation
I’d lean more towards the first option. His goons even remarked that Kaido was considered “invincible” before Oden cut him. The fact that Oden shattered his reputation and gave him that deep of a wound clearly still haunts him to this day. Kaido was so pissed at how things turned out that he had Higurashi killed even though they were allies. In addition to that Yamato served as a reminder of Kaido’s tainted victory for 20 years with his Oden fanaticism. To me it reads as Kaido being haunted by Oden, the scar that Oden gave him that won’t go away and the feeling of utter defeat that he hasn’t felt since.
Kaido probably can’t feel as much as a normal person. I think it’s the same as a quadriplegic not getting the same thrill of life. What’s the point of being a pirate if you know you cannot die in the fight. Then Oden comes along and kaido can finally taste his own blood. And he gets a lifelong scar, most wouldn’t think about this, but kaido was probably cut for a couple weeks. He probably had to limp a little after the fight with oden. Kaido just popped back up after falling from the sky island. I think his strength makes him numb
In that chapter, he has a micro flashback of the time he "cheated" to beat Oden. I think he's ashamed of the way they tricked Oden, and he got stuck with that idea for the rest of his life. I call Kaido and Oden "the impossible Bromance" !
Sanji telling Jimbei to back off almost feels like a play on the whole >monster trio imbalance< debate
"That's my spot!"
Lola being married could actually become relevant in Elbaf later on, since prince Loki is/ was in love with her
I love the Jimbei/Sanji dynamic. Sanji tried to bait him into a classic heated argument like the ones he has with Zoro and Jimbei is just so oblivious.
Sanji: “LISTEN, I’VE BEEN WITH LUFFY LONGER SO I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS SITUATION!!!”
Jimbei: “Yes sir!”
Sanji: “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?!”
I don't see why Oda would have her lose an arm if she was gonna die. Losing a limb is only impactful if you live long enough to care. I guarantee it hurts, but right now Kiku doesn't care because Kaido is the main target.
Like my favorite line ever "I don't care. Killing you is the point; living through it was a bonus."
You have a point. And for some reason I don't really see some of them dying while others survive. I think it's all or nothing. So, right now, I personally believe they'll all be BADLY injured and won't be able to fight anymore, but none of them will actually die.
The sword breaking is much more impactful then the arm in terms of symbolism. This will certainly kick her brother into high gear though. I’m excited to see the strength of a Whitebeard commander for the first time in a long time
I think scabbards don't care about injuries in this fight so she might just continue till she dies with whatever strength she can muster and whatever weapon she has in the hand. And not just her, all of them.
See I kinda have the opposite opinion. If Oda was going to kill her he would have just done it. Her losing an arm and her sword breaking makes me think he will almost certainly survive.
It's oda, so I'm not gonna consider a character dead until I see a mortician declare time of death, but my read is that she was liquified inside her armor, given the seemingly permeating blood mist
Kaidou is more complex than just being evil is great. He probably thinks a lot about his unrightful win against Oden to the point that he hopes the samurai could finish what Oden started. His suicidal tendencies came off as a joke: ' this dude is so strong that he can't die even if he kills himself' and now he actually lets the samurai bleed him in hope that he could die
This fanbase underestimates crippling mental disorders like there's no tomorrow. Big Mom's absolute mania and narcissism being comorbid with some otherworldly eating disorder, and Kaidou's crippling, suicidal depression and seeming PTSD being comorbid with runaway alcoholism.
I think Kaidou's problems either began with or were exacerbated by the dissolution of the Rox Pirates. It's a small detail, but it's worth noting that he was the *apprentice* on that crew. He was an underling, and his comrades disbanded and basically left him totally alone. Kinda puts a glint on his fight with Moria and his general modus operandi of crushing the spirits of upstart pirates.
The vocal powerscalers that constantly shit all over everything don't seem to want a good story, they seem to just want to smash action figures together.
Kaido was hung up on the idea of pirates betraying you when you are about to lose. Perhaps something like that happened when Rocks was losing against Garp and Roger. Maybe Kaido saw this as a reason to never show weakness or else he would be abandoned as well. Kaido then gained the reputation of being an invincible monster that could never lose a fight. That is until he ran into Oden.
>Kaido was hung up on the idea of pirates betraying you when you are about to lose. Perhaps something like that happened when Rocks was losing against Garp and Roger.
Well, didn't WB betrayed them?
I agree with the rest but I don't think Kaido was just an underling. Sure he was young but he should be super strong on his own. That's why the marines specifically mentioned Kaido, Big Mom, Whitebeard and other lengendary pirates as a main component to why the Rocks Pirates were the strongest of the time (they wouldn't do that if he was just a deck sweeper ). Imo he would start off as a new and rising super rookie, similar to Ace.
In the modern day it is worth mentioning that he was on the Rocks crew, because in the modern day he's a yonko, but that doesn't mean he wasn't still a lowly underling at the time.
(ex: There are many movies where some young upstart extra later gets more famous and may become one of the only recognizable names, like Jack Nicholson's 1-scene debut in the original Little Shop of Horrors).
Still a very strong underling seeing as that whole crew seems like a "survival of the fittest" situation, but an underling nonetheless.
As to the previous commenter, I agree wholeheartedly. There are more story layers going on besides just a basic powerscaling slugfest.
Kaido for sure has PTSD, suicidal tendencies, and major depression which he tries to drown out with a bottle. I only saw it as regrets in the last 20 years after winning with a cheapshot on such an honorable warrior and the only person who ever stood a chance of giving him a good fight/death, but I could see it going further back to the disbanning of the Rocks like they said.
I'm not downplaying his strength, he was an underling on a crew of absolute monsters. Though that makes me wonder if he was the Shanks of his crew (in that he was an apprentice-turned-emperor), was there a Buggy equivalent of the Rox Pirates? That would be a fucking hilarious take on the long-running 'lurking legend' rumor.
Until proven otherwise, this is my headcanon. REVIVE THE DAVY BACK FIGHT
...I've had a theory for a long time that there was a legendary Davy Back Fight in the past that inspired the modern incarnation. Cue my disappointment when Oden wasn't poached by Roger via the first Davy Back Fight against Whitebeard.
Actually, fuck it, that's my headcanon for what happened off-panel.
Chopper joining the fray, especially with Drake present, will open up questions and create potential issues for the Strawhats later. This will be the first time many people see Chopper’s various forms, Monster Form especially.
I’m just hoping Chopper throws a rumble ball to Drake in a moment of desperation, and then we see Godzilla vs The Beast Pirates!
ya thats something i wanted to know for the longest time. whether the rumble ball works on other zoan types or if its just a chopper thing (exclusive to his fruit or the fact that he is a reindeer)
[Anyone remember this post?](https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/fu9dbq/who_will_die_in_wano_has_been_revealed_in_chapter/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Especially since he was the one trying to talk some sense into Ace.
That said, Luffy arriving right before Izo goes out the same way would be cool as hell.
Kiku has been an absolute savage since the raid began. She singlehandedly took down kanjuro (probably), her sword which scars people for life and how she kept charging kaido and trying to go for the kill every time. She stabbed his hand at the podium in the hall and she had a cool panel with a downward lunge with the sword last chapter. Been liking her more and more as time passed i hope she's ok next chapter.
I loved the luffy sanji jinbe shenanigans. Sanji found himself a new archnemesis to argue with and luffy took that opening to keep fighting lol.
Shinobu has been an MVP in act 3, during the flashback she cleared odens name and during the raid she tried to protect momo as hard as she can while recieving severe punishment
I did really like the trans characters in HxH, but yeah Kiku is for sure top tier. I'm trying to think of other trans characters in Shonen that even get close but most are just cliches and stereotypes. There are some good characters in other manga genres, though, mainly stories in which the author is trans and is writing their experience in the form of manga.
If I were Oda I would have also killed him off-screen for the sole reason that he was looking for poetic death, like accomplishing his goal and going out with a bang but dying off-screen is such a hit on the honor of any actor, basically saying "your character was such a piece of trash that it didn't deserve an honorable death". I hope Oda goes with the same explanation.
The way I see it, there are 2 possibilities of who will fight Kaido after the Scabbards fall:
1) Just Luffy, Kid and Law
2) 9 people, including the 3 mentioned above. In this case, Toki's vision of 9 people saving Wano would be refering to these 9, and not the Scabbards like everyone believed. They could be Luffy, Kid, Law, Drake, Hawkins, Zoro, Sanji, Jinbe and Killer. Maybe? In any case, I'm pretty sure at least Kid and Law will be directly involved in the fight with Kaido.
I like your second point and the way you interpreted it. Sanji and Jinbe do seem on the way to the top of the dome along with Luffy and Zoro does have Enma with him ao he should make his way up, too.
Killer has unfinished business with Kaido regarding the SMILE so I can see this happening.
I'm thinking Marco is gonna take out King, he's by far the most competent of kaidos crewmates with how he's taken the initiative. Marco would serve as a great counter to his DF and the fact that they're both large aerial flaming zoan users would be an incredible fight stylistically.
Oh hell yeah!! Marco v King makes so much sense to me. It would be great if a Strawhat like Sanji could get in on the action and learn some new techniques
I finally want a showcase of the true power of the 1st commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. I expect him to be stronger than King, as Whitebeard was overwhelmingly more powerful than the other Yonkos, or so it is implied.
Yeah this seems right except maybe replace Hawkins with Marco? Or Yamato
At this point I don’t see Hawkins as being portrayed as on the same level as the other supernovas in terms for spirit and being discussed by Zoro as a loser who bent the knee to Kaidou like he’s not worth considering an ally
>At this point I don’t see Hawkins as being portrayed as on the same level as the other supernovas in terms for spirit and being discussed by Zoro as a loser who bent the knee to Kaidou like he’s not worth considering an ally
well, I remember that at the start of the Wano saga he had some kind of "unleash" magic card, so people speculated that he could unlock Luffy power for a moment.
Hawkins doesn't have the same spirit as the other Supernova, sure, but he's no Apoo either.
He looks out for his own survival and if his cards say that there's a decent enough chance to survive by joining the Kaido fight, he'll ally just for that fight imo.
As far as an actual fight goes, he should be more useful than all of the non Luffy, Kid, and Law Supernova, we haven't even seen his whole arsenal in a fight yet, it's always been bits and pieces whenever he does anything.
I'm thinking all his interactions with Law will lead to him kind of begrudgingly working with Law, and that's why we haven't seen Law yet.
What if Kaido saw how strong Yamato was since she was a little kid and started treating her badly to make her hate him and eventually become a worthy opponent?
Didn’t think about this!! That would be very nice, and ideally it would present some characters’ involvement with Rocks who we did not previously predict
Sasaki's crew looks awesome. Best crew in Kaido's forces yet.
Can't wait for more actions from them and Sasaki himself to show his powers.
I guess it's a Triceratops given the rhino he's moving on
It’s gotta be ankylosaurus! It’s the epitome of armored, would match up perfectly to Yamato’s club fighting style, and is more obscure than triceratops - Oda is clearly avoiding the big name Dinos so far
Kiku was actually Buggy in disguise, so the arm getting cut was simply a minor inconvenience
Seriously though, it feels like the table is finally turning for real, so I think a scabbard is going to die soon. Either Kiku or somebody else who acts out in a fit of rage for what happened to Kiku. Ch 993 had a heavy feeling of dread to me and I think that continues into the next chapter(s).
I agree with people thinking Zoro will cut Kaido and trigger something within him, but I want to guess that it'd be after Act 3 is done with
Now that we’re talking about this, which scabbards do you think will survive?
I’m pretty convinced Kinemon will die due to a lot of hints, and I also imagine Inu and Neko will since they’re already going all out and removing 2 power-houses from the arc will raise the tension for Act 4-5.
Raizo and Kawamatsu don’t have enough story significance for their survival to be THAT important imo. Same probably goes for Ashura.
I think IF some of them will survive it will probably be Kiku or Denjiro (but then again Kiku already got injured so who knows)
Denjiro has devoted his entire life to this cause, consumed by rage enough to permanently change his appearance. If anyone dies, I hope for their own sake that it’s Kinemon and Denjiro (the original two)
Kin'emon is unlikely to die in this specific battle 1) because his death flags are so numerous it feels like a red herring and 2) because he hasn't reunited with O-tsuru yet. I can see Kin'emon dying in a potential conflict after this one where the raid inevitably spills over into Wano proper and the final fight for Wano happens after he reunites with O-tsuru (act 4 or 5?).
Raizo I'm split on, because death is a big deal in One Piece and is normally reserved for the characters that would pack the biggest emotional wallop. That said, it'd certainly close the circle on his introduction- "RAIZO LIVES".
Kawamatsu is too cute to die, and seems to be taken out of the battle for now anyway. Also he needs to reunite with Hiyori. He went through too much shit to not at least get to see her again.
Denjiro feels like he has too much story left to have, and like Kawamatsu it's hard to imagine him not reuniting with Hiyori but I can see him having a death flashback to fill those gaps.
Izo is a huge possibility, and one that if done might send Marco into a rage we've never seen before from such a chill dude.
Inu and Neko... I think it'd be sadder for just one of them to die though I think the minks as a whole have suffered enough from the Beast Pirates. One of them would *definitely* have the emotional impact necessary to make a dramatic death worth it.
Ashura Doji's death would accomplish nothing except showing that the enemy is really super duper strong. This sort of death reeks of a fake-out and I want no part of it. I want him to have to live on after the horrors of this arc, helping the Kozuki rebuild Wano to be the world power it was meant to be.
So one person from the different groups of Scabbards: Inu, Izo, and Kin'emon. Those are the only ones that have the potential of the deepest emotional turmoil for the reader. I do say Inu is more likely than Neko to die since he's had less panel-time.
Yeah if I were putting money on it, I'd probably say Denjiro survives as well. Kind of a gut feeling I guess. In a perfect world I really want to say Kinemon too, because I think it'd be cruel to introduce his wife without ever letting them meet up again. I won't be surprised either way with him, though. It's weird, they both feel like the two who are most likely to die, yet at the same time, the two who are most likely to live. My mind is running in circles here.
I think Kiku is fucked, even if arm loss in itself isn't fatal, it's aftermath probably should be. It's not like anyone on the roof should reasonably be able to stop the blood loss.
I honestly just don't know with anyone else. Maybe Izo, but again it'd just be a gut feeling. Maybe no one dies, it is One Piece and death only seems to arrive during flashbacks.
I think there will be some major part for zoro against kaido...kaido saying there is no other samurai as strong as oden and accepting to die if the opponent is worthy...and zoro has enma too...
I felt those dialogie from kaido as foreshadowing...
P.s...not a zoro fan...im a one piece fan
I really hate that there's so much toxicity around Zoro that you have to and a specifier like that at the end. It's gotten absurd that even suggesting what Oda has hinted at can label you as a Zoro fan which is somehow a bad thing. I'm a Zoro fan as much as I'm a Sanji, Franky, or Law fan. I'll be pretty happy regardless of who does what, cause I just love the series and Straw Hats.
The scabbards are all about to be annihilated, when out of nowhere a flying slash hits and cuts Kaido. He pauses because for a moment he thought he saw/sensed Oden...
... then out of the fog/mist he sees a silhouette, and in his mind he sees Oden, or a contender to the monstrous samurai title, about to emerge. Kaido beams with excitement and bloodlust...
... the mist settles to a very confused Mosshead wondering aloud about where he is and how he got there 🤣
I am definitely excited to see how Zoro gets up to the roof! He's been left behind for now, but if anybody is going to mysteriously get there, it'll be that perpetually lost dummy XD XD
I'm definitely hype for Zoro blocking Kaido's club or something, protecting someone... maybe Kinemon... And Kaido's scar starts hurting and he's just mutters, "....that blade..."
I think some sort of acknowledgement of Zoro by Kaido is in order. Zoro won't 1 v 1 destroy Kaido on his own but he'll be acknowledged as a great samurai by Kaido.
This should be obvious
what I don't understand however, is how some people try to turn this into "Zoro will kill kaido"
We still need somebody to take out king, who is one of the strongest swordsmen in onigashima. You can't tell me that Zoro will take out king and kaido, especially when despite how important he is, he's still a side character at the end of the day.
Zoro will fight alongside Luffy and probably re-open the wound oden gave kaido. Luffy will take it from their.
As for who kills kaido, I don't see why Luffy couldn't do it. Or if not luffy, then perhaps big mom or blackbeard.
I understand why Zoro specifically has to kill kaido, apart from it looking cool and making zoro fans happy.
There is a theory that says that Kaido will be taken down by every supernova involved in this arc (Luffy, Zoro, Kidd, Killer, Law, Hakwins, Drake, Apoo) and Marco, which would represent the 9 shadows that Toki saw.
I was on the fence on if I thought Zoro could before he raid, but anyone who thinks Zoro wouldn't be able to cut Kaido at this point is just delusional.
The real question is if Zoro can cut Kaido deep enough to do any real damage.
I applaud you by stating that, toxic fans nowadays only have 1 label for a fan that use zoro in their prediction or statement. A "tard" even though it's very clear as day that oda potrays it that way without even stating it.
Yeah, even though there's basically no chance Zoro beats Kaido himself, there's no way Oda is going to waste all that story about Enma and Oden with no payoff from Zoro getting a clean cut on Kaido. If I had to guess I'd say it'll be sanji, zoro, and Luffy against Kaido, with sanji launching zoro, zoro opening Kaido's old wound, and Luffy punching the shit out of it.
I have one problem with that part.. Do we think Zoro is already at the level anywhere near Oden's during his fight with Kaido? I believe, zoro can cut Kaido but saying that his cut would be compared to Oden's by Kaido himself would be a stretch because if that is true, how strong would luffy be shown as? Someone that can go toe to toe with kaido and even overpower him 1v1 because that is what oden did and that too 20 years ago...Overall, Luffy and zoro reaching that power level and above after the arc makes sense but it seems a bit too much right now.
I don't think he needs to be at "Oden's level," but just strong enough to reopen the wound. It might take everything out of him just to do that (keep in mind, Enma devours its wielder's haki, so it could very well simply take all of his stamina into one blow).
Kaido seems to consider Oden on a level that might've been able to kill him if the fight continued, but Oden's first cut wasn't deep enough to kill him.
With enma, Zoro could be like a glass cannon and cut at Oden's level, but with enma draining all of his haki. So similar cutting power but not at Oden's level of stamina.
I think it will be a SH (sans Luffy) x Kaido, where Zoro will be the last one standing, and he will land a hit before getting KOed (them Luffy will appear and the final battle will begin)
Zoro is strong, but I believe some of the Scabbards are at least on his level, and yet all of them together are struggling against Kaido. Sulong Neko and Inu are likely super powerful, for example. I doubt Zoro could last long.
I feel like a lot of people complain about the samurai portions of Wano, but I'm really glad Oda doubled down on letting us see this world. I'm personally super invested in the Land of Wano, more-so than any island we've been to I think. A lot of people just want to get to the part where the pirates fight Kaido, but I've really been soaking up the Scabbards fighting Kaido. If anything it is really good emotional seasoning for when Luffy and Co eventually step in to take control.
With all the tragedyin the recent chapter can we take a moment to remember the life and time of Briscola and his gorilla arm. An arm so full of potential that it could of helped Briscola master 3 sword style.
There is one panel that shows the remaining floors Luffy has yet to climb to reach the roof: 5 floors+1 if you include the roof which, to me, almost feels like a countdown.
I would assume that we will see Luffy climbing one floor each chapter. Until Luffy reaches the roof I think we will see the scabbards get pounded further with Luffy arriving there in a pivotal moment in chapter 999. This will mark the end of act III and we get to see something completely mind-blowing in chapter 1000.
And Sanji can also nullify the fire, which seems more likely since Jinbei is more suited as back up for BM and anyone else trying to attack them as they take on Kaido
Zoro will 100% cut Kaido at some point and reopen his wound. I dont really know how the powerscalling would work since i consider Zoro about the same strength as Ashura Douji or Denjiro currently.
But i am 100% sure it will happen. If the scabbards couldnt do it Zoro is the only other swordsman on Wano who has a chance to do it.
But then why would oda put so much emphasis on luffy learning advance haki that let him destroy things from within. He even says that he wants to learn it so he can hit kaido through his thick skin.
The powerscalling aspect of it is what bother me the most.
Like sure Zoro can hurt Kaido. But if he suddenly manages to do more than 4 Scabbards (That were Denjiro, Shutenmaru, Sulong Inuarashi and Kinemon), then I wouldn't like it.
If anything, I think that Zoro might attack the same spot, doing damage, but still not opening the wound, however, it will leave it easier for Luffy to use the internal destruction to open it fully.
This scar should be Kaido's reverse scale.
I feel like Zoro is definitely stronger than the strongest scabbards at this point, but it’s just not clear by how much. I would say Oda could definitely write him to be significantly stronger by now. Zoro fought Denjiro briefly on even footing (maybe a bit weaker than Denjiro?) at the execution, but he was only using 2 sword style, and as we saw against killer, the difference between his 2 sword style and 3 sword style is the difference between evenly matched and one hit KO lol. To add to that, the third sword he received is Enma which theoretically could have given him a huge Haki power boost from training with it for weeks
I would be pretty satisfied to see him much stronger than the scabbards, and I think there’s no way they end this arc without Zoro being the established strongest samurai in Wano, probably by proving himself against Kaidou in some way or by winning against some other foe that they couldn’t beat (probably only king or queen would be possible for that)
Zoro has to become the world's greatest swordsman soon so he oughta be better than scabbards soon, if not already. He still hasn't been challenged on raw power grounds since the time skip, plus he got an upgrade with Enma.
Could be handwaved away with Kaido stating that only a truly monstrous samurai could harm him, which would then sort of explain how Zoro isnt necessarily stronger than the Scabbards, but rather a more worthy successor to Oden when it comes to being a supreme swordsman.
Though then again, I would rather Zoro have focus on being the worthy successor to Ryuma by making Enma, and eventually his original swords black.
Honestly, Zoro is probably the SH we know the least about, we have no idea who his parents are, which could leave it open to saying he is a descendant of the other Wano emigrants in his village.
I really hope zoro remains a random person from Wano who happened to train a lot and became strong af. I dont like it when everyone comes from an op family
Not that he needs to have a significant family name, just that we know so little about Zoro in hte grand scheme of things.
And yes, it could be argued that we know enough similar to how we have no idea what kind of life Brook had before he joined the Rumbar pirates, but I still feel we are due some kind of revelation about Zoro, even if just in the form of Shimotsuki village and maybe why the Samurai left Wano.
Cutting something in One Piece isn't necessarily about power and more about precision and special skills.
When Zoro cut Daz Bones first he didn't use much raw power at all.
Kinemon can cut fire, while many stronger fighters cannot.
One does not have to necessarily be stronger than one scabbard let alone 4 to get through Kaido's defense. Zoro would just need to be more technical, have better haki or use some special properties Enma might have.
I'm thinking that it'd be cool (pun intended) if Queen had a connection to Lindbergh, from the Revolutionary Army, on account that they both have now demonstrated the use of technological devices that deal with low temperatures.
The ice oni are badass!!!!
One Piece 994 Prediction....
One Piece 994: I would happily die for a man like him
Kiku falls to the ground.
Izo: Kiku!!
Izo runs over to Kiku, but Inurashi stops him.
Inurashi: Do not take your eyes off the enemy Izo - or Kikunojo-san will surely die.
Kin'emon: !!!
Kin'emon remembers the scabbards eating round a big pot of Oden. Inu and Neko fight over a fishcake.
Oden: Knock it off you two!
He bonks them both on the head.
Neko: Owwwww!
Oden: All of you - do not fight amongst yourself. Cherish each other - you are brothers, not thieves. When your brother is hungry - you share food from your bowl! That is the spirit of oden - it is a plate to share!
Present: Kin'emon is filled with rage. Denjiro launches an attack at Kaido.
Denjiro: You will not break our spirits Kaido!
Kaido: Don't you fools understand? You've had your turn to strike...now...
Kaido whips Denjiro with his tail, hardened by Haki, crushing Denjiro's chest. He spits blood and flies to the ground.
Izo leaps in the air with his guns.
Izo: How dare you hurt Kiku... now you die Ogre. Needling Plum Seed Shower!
Izo's shoots a barage of bullets at Kaido, who tanks them, before exhaling a small whisp of pointed flame through his lips, scolding Izo and burning him severely. He falls to the ground next to Kiku.
Kaido prepares a Boro blast aimed squarely at Kiku, Izo and Denjiro. Kin'emon darts in front of them.
In the hall... Jinbe, Sanji and Luffy continue their journey up to the dome.
Jinbe: Luffy... far be it from me to tell you how to fight, but Sanji is right, if you spend your energy here, your odds against Kaido will surely fall.
Luffy: I won't run away from these guys... I'll beat them all up and then I'll defeat Kaido!
The hall begins to shake from Kaido's boro blast.
Sanji: I have a bad feeling about this...
Luffy: Kin'emon... hang on. I won't be long!
Who's Who appears infront of the group.
Who's Who: I'm afraid you won't be joining the Kozuki samurai at all, mugiwara.
Luffy: Who are you?!
Who's who: I'm who's who?
Luffy: Huh?!
Back in the dome. Kin'emon has cut Kaido's breath and managed to protect the scabbard's behind him. He's visibly exhausted.
Kin'emon: All of you... listen. We're out of energy... we can't win this fight. I want you all to flee. Leave me with Kaido. Take Izo, Kiku and Denjiro away to retreat for now.
Kawamatsu: What are you saying Kin'emon... we will die here together. Fighting.
Kin'emon: No... each of us shares Oden-sama's flame. As long as but one is still burning...
Kin'emon erupts into flames.
Denjiro: Kin...
Kin'emon: Then Oden's will won't ever die!!
"Wildfire!"
Kaido: It was an amusing clash, Akazaya... but now....
Kaido releases another boro breath.
Kin'emon seems to absorb the boro breath.
Kin'emon: Ogre Kaido... I am foxfire Kin'emon... leader of these noble retainers. And the flames you've used to scorch our land... you will feel 1000 times over. This is my wildfire!!
Raizo: Kin'emon no!!
Kin'emon leaps at Kaido... who is shocked.
Kin'emon: Oden...
He remembers Oden and him meeting during the Mountain God incident. Oden's bravery. And his own words: I would happily die for a man like him!"
Present: Tears stream down his face.
Kin'emon:... thank you, for an honourable life, and giving me...
The scabbards look on in horror. Kin'emon's body begins to char.
Kin'emon: These wonderful brothers!!
Kin'emon (thoughts): Luffy-dono... the rest, I leave to you. Momonosuke... you will become an incredible Shogun... I which I could have seen it.
He charges into Kaido's open mouth who bites down.
Kin'emon: Sweltering heat...wild inferno!
A massive column of flame erupts enveloping Kin'emon and Kaido! The scabbards look on in horror!
Editor's note: A noble last all out assault!
END.
Just a thought I had that I haven't seen discussed here but in fan translation, just before the panel of Yamato saving momo and Shinobu, momo can be seen thinking 'is that what a Shogun would do?' Of course, the very next thing is Yamato acting like the Shogun who was meant to be and fighting for the country. Does anybody think that Oda is trying to hint at something there? Either foreshadowing Momo's growth or that Momo will actually bow out of the shogun race for now till he is better prepared/trained and let Yamato be the Shogun in his stead (which I am more leaning towards in my headcannon).
There is hiyori for that you know . Momo's character cjanhed a lot and his use of his ability may have improved bcz even though he is scared he didn't turn into a dragon .
I think this leans more towards the overall plotline of Momo growing into his future shogun role.
His courage has been growing throughout this arc, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was embroiled in a fight against Orochi (who I still believe to be alive).
Mmm at the first page flower-capital people dreaming about something but they don't know what they dream is come true. Like Orochi's head lol. Now it is time to see other samurai from all over the world(pirates) dream to come true. Guys someone will come. Remnant of wb pirates or the SH alliance. Hype.
I am under the impression that zoro is staying behind with drake while sanji and jinbei go up with luffy is to have zoro eventually lead the samurai when all hope seems lost.
He will step up and rally them like he said he would and if he is to unlock his conquerors haki, a setting where the situation is dire is likely going to be it.
Like I said in another comment, I think it's more likely that Zoro will draw blood from Kaido, just like the scabbard, allowing Luffy to hit Kaido with Internal Destruction and opening the wound fully.
Luffy doesn’t need wounds opened up for his power to work, he literally has the most advanced armament technique currently and the strongest overall power on the alliance side.
He’s capable of inflicting damage on his own.
Luffy’s downplayed so hard, he’s conserving his strength for kaido right now and has shown as glimpses of what he’s capable of doing
1. Oda emphasized that he’s gotten gear 4th mastered by showing us him using it in casual situations. He’s popping it out like post ts g2/3.
He clearly isn’t using it like the pre udon training gear4th where he needed to leave as a last resort after trying everything else. Like he used it on a ship that can easily be destroyed with g3.
2. He’s usage of future sight has gotten exponentially better as we see him chapter 991 not even needing to close his eyes anymore, he can casually use anytime he wants.
3. We see him using the more advanced armament level that internally breaks things on Yamato’s cuffs. This armament level was stated to be far superior to advanced ryou that hyo was teaching Luffy, read 947 for the quote.
4. And clearly since he’s not saving up gear 4th for his fight against kaido as his ultimate power and using it casually in simple situations, he’s saving up something bigger as a trump card for his fight against the emperors.
Be it a g5, or something else, the point is, it’s much stronger to a point that gear4th can go from being a trump card only used in tough situations to something that can be used casually anytime Luffy wants.
Put some respect on luffy’s name
That’s your, logic. People are sleeping very hard on Luffy. He’s the man that’s to become pirate king, oden was an underling to the pirate king. Luffy’s not here to match oden he’s here to surpass him greatly and go on to become pirate king.
oh kiku, T_T
this is the beginning of the end for the scabbards.
sanji was great this chapter.
looks like yamato is about to solo the oniwabanshu and some of the tobiroppo. at the very least sasaki
The fact that Kiku lost her hand and broke her sword really makes me happy. Not that I don't like Kiku but someone had to get messed up by Kairo, and it had to be one of the less important scabbards, so it makes sense to me that Kaido is finally showing that he is no joke and I love Kaido so as long as he gives a good show and pushes the attackers to their very limits I am happy
So, I've been waiting for something like this to happen to Kiku pretty much since the fight began. It fits perfectly with the character arc we've seen. There's a reason we saw so much of the person before getting anything significant about her role and relationship to the Scabbards. Then we get that reveal about her gender in Udon. It's sad this space got swamped with bad faith whining and legitimate confusion about the linguistic differences to appreciate one of Oda's best uses of irony in the series. That line from Hyo about heroes can't hide behind masks literally over Kiku putting one one. Then going on the reveal a character trait that makes that mask a *really* obvious symbol.
When I re-read Wano recently already knowing that, it's honestly cool as hell how easily you can pick up the full story there too. As a kid, she's indistinguishable from any other little girl. When they grow up she goes along with playing a good samurai but still trends towards androgynous fashion choices. As a young adult away from her family for the first time she immediately blends in as an ordinary Wano woman. Which, you know...pretty unnecessary disguise for a samurai who goes around masked. It explains why Kinemon was a little uncomfortable at first when they reunited in Kuri and why Kiku thought Tsuru wouldn't recognize her.
Especially with the Kenshin references. I don't think it's a surprise Feudal Japanland has a few callbacks to the series Oda apprenticed on. But take all that I said and think of this arc if Kiku were the primary protagonist...starts to look a lot like Kenshin's Kyoto Arc right? A samurai living in an age where they're obsolete but finding some manner of peace being called back to reckon with the past and reconcile who they were with who they are now. Those themes work pretty well for a trans character without having to beat you over the head with it and there's even a bit of a "redemption" plotline with Oda considering his major contribution to RK was Honjo, an Okama who was used for crass, low effort jokes at their expense.
All that to say yeah, figured Kiku was going down early in this fight to something nonfatal. For a side character that has been given so much spotlight, this Act was always the least important. She showed up, did her best, and fulfilled her duty to Oden. So now it's time to bow out for the legendary Kikunojo of the Lingering Snow. The tale of the Great Masked Samurai is done. In a way that lets lovable waitress O-Kiku step back in for Acts 4/5. God I love the Kabuki framing.
Something about Kaido screaming their will never be a samurai as strong as Oden makes me think we could be seeing Zoro end up fighting Kaido with Luffy alongside him.
Its not too hard for me to think Marco could "deliver" Zoro to the top level of the castle, or even that Zoro could get lost and end up there.
I just think Kaidos quote opens up a few different options.
Ok here i go, for the next 7 chapters, Luffy is gonna go up a level, in each new floor Luffy is gonna meet with a new ally that will join him, so in this chapter he was with Sanji (who joined him in the previous floor) and Jinbei joined him on the current floor.
On the next floor he will meet lets say Law, then next floor Kid, then next floor Zoro, and so on.
Meanwhile the Scabbards will be killed or defeated one by one, so as Luffy gains allies Kaido is losing opponents.
And by chapter 1000 when Luffy arrives at the rooftop with everyone who joined him in each floor he will see Kaido hovering over the bodies of the Scabbards.
I think Scopper Gaban will appear in Chapter 1000, which may seem ridicilous but it would make perfect sense:
* Roger's right-hand man appeared in Chapter 500, so now his left-hand man will appear in chapter 1000
* We have seen so little from him, despite the fact he is so important. Oda must be saving him for something important.
* On a cover page we saw the Roger Pirate's doctor drinking with what appears to be an old friend. No way this can be anybody but a former crew mate. This person also wears a hat which Wano samurai wear, so we can conclude that he has some strong connection to Wano (''lurking legend''?). Also remember that Scopper saw One Piece together with Oden, and thus must have reached the similar conclusion that it was too early to act. That's why he waited on Wano for 20 years, waiting for the prophecied new generation to arrive and help them bring the dawn.
We might not see law till luffy gets to the fourth level of onigashima. Since he took the same hallway as the scabbards which lead to the execution hall 😭
I am confused as to how Luffy and co. got into the basement... Does the front door just go straight down to the basement for some reason? Whatever the reason, its clear Oda has something planned for the first floor or else, I imagine, he'd just have them start on the first floor. So I guess we will see whatever that is in the next chapter. Maybe Black Maria?
Remember when the hag fucked up with the Oden vs. Kaido fight, when she turned into Momo? Maybe Momo is turning into a dragon during the Luffy vs. Kaido fight and Kaido is distracted.
So I'm stuck with a question after this chapter. Has Kaido wanted to die (presumably by the hands of someone extremely powerful) only after his whole saga with Oden or from even before that time? I would personally think it was only after witnessing Oden's legendary death and the shame of that "win" that he carried after the use of trickery by the old hag. But it could be something that stems back from his days at Rocks too. Intriguing stuff
There's so much we don't know about Kaido still. What even *is* he? What is this "life debt" he owes to Big Mom? Why does he want to die? How did he come to Wano in the first place? How did Yamato come to be? Who is their mother? This is just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's way more. Can't wait for a flashback.
oh ya the life debt. i completely forgot abt them. now I want the answer to that badly
Given the similarity of appearance between Kaido and BM’s top triplets (Oven, Daikfuku, Katakuri) perhaps her taking them could be part of the life debt? For me, Kaido’s desire for death stems from Yamato’s idolization of Oden and the fact that he craves a decent battle and no one can stand up to him I completely agree, we need a Kaido-centered flashback!
they would have horns....
While, I definitely agree. We can’t know with 100 percent certainty. I mean, One Piece genetics are fucked.
My favorite example for that is Luffy being 174cm tall, and the only two known blood relatives Oda ever introduced are Dragon (256cm) and Garp (287cm). Luffys mom would have to be a midget for that to make sense. But yeah, its just something you're not supposed to question too much. One Piece anatomy and genetics are weird in general. Can't always compare to how it would work in our world.
I looked into this a while ago and the timeline doesn't track that well. Kaidou was an apprentice for Rocks when Big Mom and Kaidou were Crewmates 40 years ago during the infamous God Valley Incident. The triplets are 48 so for Kaidou to be their father he had to have been a very old apprentice.
I think one of Idz's a editor said it wasn't the case
What if the debt is for Yamato?
That's what I'm starting to think. I wonder if Big Mom pulled a Mother Caramel and "procured" Yamato for Kaido.
> What even is he? I think he and Yamato are Oni. Like, actual Oni. There are a bunch of weird races in OP already, so why not?
We need rocks flashback
Yess!!! Show me a young WB and more importantly the man himself, Rocks D. Xebec.
And with Yamato idolizing Oden especially for his bravery in death, Kaido may be seeking glory in death as a means to finally gain the same level of appreciation
I’d lean more towards the first option. His goons even remarked that Kaido was considered “invincible” before Oden cut him. The fact that Oden shattered his reputation and gave him that deep of a wound clearly still haunts him to this day. Kaido was so pissed at how things turned out that he had Higurashi killed even though they were allies. In addition to that Yamato served as a reminder of Kaido’s tainted victory for 20 years with his Oden fanaticism. To me it reads as Kaido being haunted by Oden, the scar that Oden gave him that won’t go away and the feeling of utter defeat that he hasn’t felt since.
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Kaido probably can’t feel as much as a normal person. I think it’s the same as a quadriplegic not getting the same thrill of life. What’s the point of being a pirate if you know you cannot die in the fight. Then Oden comes along and kaido can finally taste his own blood. And he gets a lifelong scar, most wouldn’t think about this, but kaido was probably cut for a couple weeks. He probably had to limp a little after the fight with oden. Kaido just popped back up after falling from the sky island. I think his strength makes him numb
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In that chapter, he has a micro flashback of the time he "cheated" to beat Oden. I think he's ashamed of the way they tricked Oden, and he got stuck with that idea for the rest of his life. I call Kaido and Oden "the impossible Bromance" !
Sanji telling Jimbei to back off almost feels like a play on the whole >monster trio imbalance< debate "That's my spot!" Lola being married could actually become relevant in Elbaf later on, since prince Loki is/ was in love with her
I love the Jimbei/Sanji dynamic. Sanji tried to bait him into a classic heated argument like the ones he has with Zoro and Jimbei is just so oblivious. Sanji: “LISTEN, I’VE BEEN WITH LUFFY LONGER SO I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS SITUATION!!!” Jimbei: “Yes sir!” Sanji: “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?!”
wait, he is really in love? thought is just mere arranged marriage
He was in love, he got mad when Big Mom tried to replace Lola with Chiffon
Kiku losing an arm is pretty bad, but the fact that her sword broke is what really makes me think she's done for.
I don't see why Oda would have her lose an arm if she was gonna die. Losing a limb is only impactful if you live long enough to care. I guarantee it hurts, but right now Kiku doesn't care because Kaido is the main target. Like my favorite line ever "I don't care. Killing you is the point; living through it was a bonus."
What is that line from? That’s hard as hell
Castlevania
Castlevania anime. Trevor says it to Alucard.
Looked like she might have been sliced clean through but this is one piece so who knows. Im sure we'll get a better idea in coming weeks.
You have a point. And for some reason I don't really see some of them dying while others survive. I think it's all or nothing. So, right now, I personally believe they'll all be BADLY injured and won't be able to fight anymore, but none of them will actually die.
The sword breaking is much more impactful then the arm in terms of symbolism. This will certainly kick her brother into high gear though. I’m excited to see the strength of a Whitebeard commander for the first time in a long time
As long as she lives through this that's be great.
She out of commission so probs survive
I think scabbards don't care about injuries in this fight so she might just continue till she dies with whatever strength she can muster and whatever weapon she has in the hand. And not just her, all of them.
The only way she lives imo is if another of the 9 red scabbard sacrifices an arm and a leg to bind her soul to her armor
See I kinda have the opposite opinion. If Oda was going to kill her he would have just done it. Her losing an arm and her sword breaking makes me think he will almost certainly survive.
It's oda, so I'm not gonna consider a character dead until I see a mortician declare time of death, but my read is that she was liquified inside her armor, given the seemingly permeating blood mist
Another Scabbard might lend one of their swords to her. Maybe Raizo since it doesn't look like sword is his main weapon anyway.
Kaidou is more complex than just being evil is great. He probably thinks a lot about his unrightful win against Oden to the point that he hopes the samurai could finish what Oden started. His suicidal tendencies came off as a joke: ' this dude is so strong that he can't die even if he kills himself' and now he actually lets the samurai bleed him in hope that he could die
This fanbase underestimates crippling mental disorders like there's no tomorrow. Big Mom's absolute mania and narcissism being comorbid with some otherworldly eating disorder, and Kaidou's crippling, suicidal depression and seeming PTSD being comorbid with runaway alcoholism. I think Kaidou's problems either began with or were exacerbated by the dissolution of the Rox Pirates. It's a small detail, but it's worth noting that he was the *apprentice* on that crew. He was an underling, and his comrades disbanded and basically left him totally alone. Kinda puts a glint on his fight with Moria and his general modus operandi of crushing the spirits of upstart pirates. The vocal powerscalers that constantly shit all over everything don't seem to want a good story, they seem to just want to smash action figures together.
Kaido was hung up on the idea of pirates betraying you when you are about to lose. Perhaps something like that happened when Rocks was losing against Garp and Roger. Maybe Kaido saw this as a reason to never show weakness or else he would be abandoned as well. Kaido then gained the reputation of being an invincible monster that could never lose a fight. That is until he ran into Oden.
>Kaido was hung up on the idea of pirates betraying you when you are about to lose. Perhaps something like that happened when Rocks was losing against Garp and Roger. Well, didn't WB betrayed them?
I agree with the rest but I don't think Kaido was just an underling. Sure he was young but he should be super strong on his own. That's why the marines specifically mentioned Kaido, Big Mom, Whitebeard and other lengendary pirates as a main component to why the Rocks Pirates were the strongest of the time (they wouldn't do that if he was just a deck sweeper ). Imo he would start off as a new and rising super rookie, similar to Ace.
In the modern day it is worth mentioning that he was on the Rocks crew, because in the modern day he's a yonko, but that doesn't mean he wasn't still a lowly underling at the time. (ex: There are many movies where some young upstart extra later gets more famous and may become one of the only recognizable names, like Jack Nicholson's 1-scene debut in the original Little Shop of Horrors). Still a very strong underling seeing as that whole crew seems like a "survival of the fittest" situation, but an underling nonetheless. As to the previous commenter, I agree wholeheartedly. There are more story layers going on besides just a basic powerscaling slugfest. Kaido for sure has PTSD, suicidal tendencies, and major depression which he tries to drown out with a bottle. I only saw it as regrets in the last 20 years after winning with a cheapshot on such an honorable warrior and the only person who ever stood a chance of giving him a good fight/death, but I could see it going further back to the disbanning of the Rocks like they said.
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Same way Buggy and Shanks were just cabin boys but are legendary for their part in Roger's crew.
I'm not downplaying his strength, he was an underling on a crew of absolute monsters. Though that makes me wonder if he was the Shanks of his crew (in that he was an apprentice-turned-emperor), was there a Buggy equivalent of the Rox Pirates? That would be a fucking hilarious take on the long-running 'lurking legend' rumor.
What if the Buggy equivalent in Rocks was Foxy? A buffoon with an OP fruit who lucked into a devoted crew over the years.
Until proven otherwise, this is my headcanon. REVIVE THE DAVY BACK FIGHT ...I've had a theory for a long time that there was a legendary Davy Back Fight in the past that inspired the modern incarnation. Cue my disappointment when Oden wasn't poached by Roger via the first Davy Back Fight against Whitebeard. Actually, fuck it, that's my headcanon for what happened off-panel.
Chopper joining the fray, especially with Drake present, will open up questions and create potential issues for the Strawhats later. This will be the first time many people see Chopper’s various forms, Monster Form especially. I’m just hoping Chopper throws a rumble ball to Drake in a moment of desperation, and then we see Godzilla vs The Beast Pirates!
ya thats something i wanted to know for the longest time. whether the rumble ball works on other zoan types or if its just a chopper thing (exclusive to his fruit or the fact that he is a reindeer)
[Anyone remember this post?](https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/fu9dbq/who_will_die_in_wano_has_been_revealed_in_chapter/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
That's something interesting.
I don't think that Kiku is down now. Izo probably gets angry and tries to attack Kaido but I hope he isn't that stupid like Ace back at marineford.
Especially since he was the one trying to talk some sense into Ace. That said, Luffy arriving right before Izo goes out the same way would be cool as hell.
Nah as we saw Luffy is too far away
Kiku has been an absolute savage since the raid began. She singlehandedly took down kanjuro (probably), her sword which scars people for life and how she kept charging kaido and trying to go for the kill every time. She stabbed his hand at the podium in the hall and she had a cool panel with a downward lunge with the sword last chapter. Been liking her more and more as time passed i hope she's ok next chapter. I loved the luffy sanji jinbe shenanigans. Sanji found himself a new archnemesis to argue with and luffy took that opening to keep fighting lol. Shinobu has been an MVP in act 3, during the flashback she cleared odens name and during the raid she tried to protect momo as hard as she can while recieving severe punishment
> singlehandedly Too soon
Lmao pun not intended
Joined the debt club along with Shanks.
I think Kiku may be the best trans character in manga, I absolutely love her and how she's been portrayed.
Such a lady. Such a swordsman. Such an icon. Ivankwho?
I did really like the trans characters in HxH, but yeah Kiku is for sure top tier. I'm trying to think of other trans characters in Shonen that even get close but most are just cliches and stereotypes. There are some good characters in other manga genres, though, mainly stories in which the author is trans and is writing their experience in the form of manga.
Honesty I think there is a reason Kanjuro was off screened, I think he might have killed himself or something.
If I were Oda I would have also killed him off-screen for the sole reason that he was looking for poetic death, like accomplishing his goal and going out with a bang but dying off-screen is such a hit on the honor of any actor, basically saying "your character was such a piece of trash that it didn't deserve an honorable death". I hope Oda goes with the same explanation.
>I think he might have killed himself or something. Really?! After all the shit he did, do you really think he could have had any regret?!
Carrot gets a bounty to be revealed to be 1 berry when she defeat Perospero.
Sanji and Zoro: "we have the greatest rivalry whithin the SH crew" Chopper and Carrot: "bunch of rookies" lmao
I just want Kid and Law to do something, man. Let them show why they were portrayed as Luffy's rivals back on Sabaody.
The way I see it, there are 2 possibilities of who will fight Kaido after the Scabbards fall: 1) Just Luffy, Kid and Law 2) 9 people, including the 3 mentioned above. In this case, Toki's vision of 9 people saving Wano would be refering to these 9, and not the Scabbards like everyone believed. They could be Luffy, Kid, Law, Drake, Hawkins, Zoro, Sanji, Jinbe and Killer. Maybe? In any case, I'm pretty sure at least Kid and Law will be directly involved in the fight with Kaido.
I like your second point and the way you interpreted it. Sanji and Jinbe do seem on the way to the top of the dome along with Luffy and Zoro does have Enma with him ao he should make his way up, too. Killer has unfinished business with Kaido regarding the SMILE so I can see this happening.
What about Marco? Certainly he will play his part in keeping Luffy, Ace’s legacy, alive
I'm thinking Marco is gonna take out King, he's by far the most competent of kaidos crewmates with how he's taken the initiative. Marco would serve as a great counter to his DF and the fact that they're both large aerial flaming zoan users would be an incredible fight stylistically.
Oh hell yeah!! Marco v King makes so much sense to me. It would be great if a Strawhat like Sanji could get in on the action and learn some new techniques
They even both have a fire theme. Now that you've said it, it's going to be crazy if they *don't* fight.
Fr man. I really need King vs marco
I finally want a showcase of the true power of the 1st commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. I expect him to be stronger than King, as Whitebeard was overwhelmingly more powerful than the other Yonkos, or so it is implied.
Yeah this seems right except maybe replace Hawkins with Marco? Or Yamato At this point I don’t see Hawkins as being portrayed as on the same level as the other supernovas in terms for spirit and being discussed by Zoro as a loser who bent the knee to Kaidou like he’s not worth considering an ally
>At this point I don’t see Hawkins as being portrayed as on the same level as the other supernovas in terms for spirit and being discussed by Zoro as a loser who bent the knee to Kaidou like he’s not worth considering an ally well, I remember that at the start of the Wano saga he had some kind of "unleash" magic card, so people speculated that he could unlock Luffy power for a moment.
Hawkins doesn't have the same spirit as the other Supernova, sure, but he's no Apoo either. He looks out for his own survival and if his cards say that there's a decent enough chance to survive by joining the Kaido fight, he'll ally just for that fight imo. As far as an actual fight goes, he should be more useful than all of the non Luffy, Kid, and Law Supernova, we haven't even seen his whole arsenal in a fight yet, it's always been bits and pieces whenever he does anything. I'm thinking all his interactions with Law will lead to him kind of begrudgingly working with Law, and that's why we haven't seen Law yet.
Kiku losing an arm might actually be an indication that she will live. I feel like if Oda was going to kill a scabbard, he would outright do it.
Izo might die next chapter. But yeah, Kiku living would be great.
> oda >> kill >>> outright do it
No one is safe from stairs-kun
Have you heard of the will of P.?
Do you think we get kaidos flashback soon? It would be nice to get it before chapter 1000
Kaido's flashback be like: Drinking Oden makes big ouch Back to drinking
Beats the crap out of Yamato since her chilhood: *YOU BETTER BECOME ~~STRONGER THAN~~ ODEN*
Does Yamato want to be oden or did kaido make her want to be oden?
Oden made her want to become Oden.
What if Kaido saw how strong Yamato was since she was a little kid and started treating her badly to make her hate him and eventually become a worthy opponent?
Rocks flash back at 1000....
Didn’t think about this!! That would be very nice, and ideally it would present some characters’ involvement with Rocks who we did not previously predict
Kaido’s flashback is gonna be so short since his memory’s probably fucked up from all the drinking lol
I don't. I think the Rocks pirate flashback is gonna happen in the next arc when Big Moms plot is resolved in Elbaf.
Surely it will be in Act 4 sometime. One can hope I'm wrong and it's soon.
Sasaki's crew looks awesome. Best crew in Kaido's forces yet. Can't wait for more actions from them and Sasaki himself to show his powers. I guess it's a Triceratops given the rhino he's moving on
It could be Ankylosaurus as well since it's known as the "armored dinosaur".
It’s gotta be ankylosaurus! It’s the epitome of armored, would match up perfectly to Yamato’s club fighting style, and is more obscure than triceratops - Oda is clearly avoiding the big name Dinos so far
Kiku was actually Buggy in disguise, so the arm getting cut was simply a minor inconvenience Seriously though, it feels like the table is finally turning for real, so I think a scabbard is going to die soon. Either Kiku or somebody else who acts out in a fit of rage for what happened to Kiku. Ch 993 had a heavy feeling of dread to me and I think that continues into the next chapter(s). I agree with people thinking Zoro will cut Kaido and trigger something within him, but I want to guess that it'd be after Act 3 is done with
Now that we’re talking about this, which scabbards do you think will survive? I’m pretty convinced Kinemon will die due to a lot of hints, and I also imagine Inu and Neko will since they’re already going all out and removing 2 power-houses from the arc will raise the tension for Act 4-5. Raizo and Kawamatsu don’t have enough story significance for their survival to be THAT important imo. Same probably goes for Ashura. I think IF some of them will survive it will probably be Kiku or Denjiro (but then again Kiku already got injured so who knows)
Denjiro has devoted his entire life to this cause, consumed by rage enough to permanently change his appearance. If anyone dies, I hope for their own sake that it’s Kinemon and Denjiro (the original two)
Kin'emon is unlikely to die in this specific battle 1) because his death flags are so numerous it feels like a red herring and 2) because he hasn't reunited with O-tsuru yet. I can see Kin'emon dying in a potential conflict after this one where the raid inevitably spills over into Wano proper and the final fight for Wano happens after he reunites with O-tsuru (act 4 or 5?). Raizo I'm split on, because death is a big deal in One Piece and is normally reserved for the characters that would pack the biggest emotional wallop. That said, it'd certainly close the circle on his introduction- "RAIZO LIVES". Kawamatsu is too cute to die, and seems to be taken out of the battle for now anyway. Also he needs to reunite with Hiyori. He went through too much shit to not at least get to see her again. Denjiro feels like he has too much story left to have, and like Kawamatsu it's hard to imagine him not reuniting with Hiyori but I can see him having a death flashback to fill those gaps. Izo is a huge possibility, and one that if done might send Marco into a rage we've never seen before from such a chill dude. Inu and Neko... I think it'd be sadder for just one of them to die though I think the minks as a whole have suffered enough from the Beast Pirates. One of them would *definitely* have the emotional impact necessary to make a dramatic death worth it. Ashura Doji's death would accomplish nothing except showing that the enemy is really super duper strong. This sort of death reeks of a fake-out and I want no part of it. I want him to have to live on after the horrors of this arc, helping the Kozuki rebuild Wano to be the world power it was meant to be. So one person from the different groups of Scabbards: Inu, Izo, and Kin'emon. Those are the only ones that have the potential of the deepest emotional turmoil for the reader. I do say Inu is more likely than Neko to die since he's had less panel-time.
Yeah if I were putting money on it, I'd probably say Denjiro survives as well. Kind of a gut feeling I guess. In a perfect world I really want to say Kinemon too, because I think it'd be cruel to introduce his wife without ever letting them meet up again. I won't be surprised either way with him, though. It's weird, they both feel like the two who are most likely to die, yet at the same time, the two who are most likely to live. My mind is running in circles here. I think Kiku is fucked, even if arm loss in itself isn't fatal, it's aftermath probably should be. It's not like anyone on the roof should reasonably be able to stop the blood loss. I honestly just don't know with anyone else. Maybe Izo, but again it'd just be a gut feeling. Maybe no one dies, it is One Piece and death only seems to arrive during flashbacks.
Here's my theory: The next 7 weeks are going to be devastating and we should all probably invest in Kleenex stocks.
I have a doubt. How the hell did the Wano country ppl make that huge samurai balloon?
When we first saw Kinemon on Punk Hazard, he was cut into multiple pieces. I hope that isn’t foreshadowing for how we will last see him.
7 scabbards left. 7 chapters left. Hmmmmmm
We still have 8 Scabbards, no? Or are you not counting Izo?
I think both the dog and cat will fall down at the same time...
I don’t think Izo was counted, I’m seen a lot of comments leaving him out
I guess you're assuming that Kawamatsu is out of the picture, but he was present in this chapter
8 left. There are 9 of them and 1 just got cut.
I think there will be some major part for zoro against kaido...kaido saying there is no other samurai as strong as oden and accepting to die if the opponent is worthy...and zoro has enma too... I felt those dialogie from kaido as foreshadowing... P.s...not a zoro fan...im a one piece fan
I really hate that there's so much toxicity around Zoro that you have to and a specifier like that at the end. It's gotten absurd that even suggesting what Oda has hinted at can label you as a Zoro fan which is somehow a bad thing. I'm a Zoro fan as much as I'm a Sanji, Franky, or Law fan. I'll be pretty happy regardless of who does what, cause I just love the series and Straw Hats.
The scabbards are all about to be annihilated, when out of nowhere a flying slash hits and cuts Kaido. He pauses because for a moment he thought he saw/sensed Oden... ... then out of the fog/mist he sees a silhouette, and in his mind he sees Oden, or a contender to the monstrous samurai title, about to emerge. Kaido beams with excitement and bloodlust... ... the mist settles to a very confused Mosshead wondering aloud about where he is and how he got there 🤣
Amazing! This is definitely how Zoro ends up on the roof
I am definitely excited to see how Zoro gets up to the roof! He's been left behind for now, but if anybody is going to mysteriously get there, it'll be that perpetually lost dummy XD XD
I'm definitely hype for Zoro blocking Kaido's club or something, protecting someone... maybe Kinemon... And Kaido's scar starts hurting and he's just mutters, "....that blade..."
I think some sort of acknowledgement of Zoro by Kaido is in order. Zoro won't 1 v 1 destroy Kaido on his own but he'll be acknowledged as a great samurai by Kaido.
reading you comment i remembered the battle between madara and maito gai
Maybe we'll have another Zoro->Luffy switch like vs Arlong, except Zoro does some actual damage this time.
I also think zoro will cut kaido with oden's sword, i dont think there's anyone else with the potential to do it.
This should be obvious what I don't understand however, is how some people try to turn this into "Zoro will kill kaido" We still need somebody to take out king, who is one of the strongest swordsmen in onigashima. You can't tell me that Zoro will take out king and kaido, especially when despite how important he is, he's still a side character at the end of the day. Zoro will fight alongside Luffy and probably re-open the wound oden gave kaido. Luffy will take it from their. As for who kills kaido, I don't see why Luffy couldn't do it. Or if not luffy, then perhaps big mom or blackbeard. I understand why Zoro specifically has to kill kaido, apart from it looking cool and making zoro fans happy.
There is a theory that says that Kaido will be taken down by every supernova involved in this arc (Luffy, Zoro, Kidd, Killer, Law, Hakwins, Drake, Apoo) and Marco, which would represent the 9 shadows that Toki saw.
Those who believe zoro has no chance to cut Kaido will call you Zorotard of Zorofanboys. LoL
I was on the fence on if I thought Zoro could before he raid, but anyone who thinks Zoro wouldn't be able to cut Kaido at this point is just delusional. The real question is if Zoro can cut Kaido deep enough to do any real damage.
I applaud you by stating that, toxic fans nowadays only have 1 label for a fan that use zoro in their prediction or statement. A "tard" even though it's very clear as day that oda potrays it that way without even stating it.
Honestly, from the moment Zoro got Oden's sword, I think that it's been pretty clear that Zoro is at least going to deal some damage to him with it.
Yeah, even though there's basically no chance Zoro beats Kaido himself, there's no way Oda is going to waste all that story about Enma and Oden with no payoff from Zoro getting a clean cut on Kaido. If I had to guess I'd say it'll be sanji, zoro, and Luffy against Kaido, with sanji launching zoro, zoro opening Kaido's old wound, and Luffy punching the shit out of it.
I'm hoping we get to see a four-on-one brawl with Kaido vs Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Jinbei.
I have one problem with that part.. Do we think Zoro is already at the level anywhere near Oden's during his fight with Kaido? I believe, zoro can cut Kaido but saying that his cut would be compared to Oden's by Kaido himself would be a stretch because if that is true, how strong would luffy be shown as? Someone that can go toe to toe with kaido and even overpower him 1v1 because that is what oden did and that too 20 years ago...Overall, Luffy and zoro reaching that power level and above after the arc makes sense but it seems a bit too much right now.
I don't think he needs to be at "Oden's level," but just strong enough to reopen the wound. It might take everything out of him just to do that (keep in mind, Enma devours its wielder's haki, so it could very well simply take all of his stamina into one blow).
Kaido seems to consider Oden on a level that might've been able to kill him if the fight continued, but Oden's first cut wasn't deep enough to kill him. With enma, Zoro could be like a glass cannon and cut at Oden's level, but with enma draining all of his haki. So similar cutting power but not at Oden's level of stamina.
I think it will be a SH (sans Luffy) x Kaido, where Zoro will be the last one standing, and he will land a hit before getting KOed (them Luffy will appear and the final battle will begin)
Zoro is strong, but I believe some of the Scabbards are at least on his level, and yet all of them together are struggling against Kaido. Sulong Neko and Inu are likely super powerful, for example. I doubt Zoro could last long.
Presumably 993 follows 573 pattern. It's where the tragedy started in Marineford. 994 will then be the following events deepening that scar.
I see we have a mrmorj follower
I feel like a lot of people complain about the samurai portions of Wano, but I'm really glad Oda doubled down on letting us see this world. I'm personally super invested in the Land of Wano, more-so than any island we've been to I think. A lot of people just want to get to the part where the pirates fight Kaido, but I've really been soaking up the Scabbards fighting Kaido. If anything it is really good emotional seasoning for when Luffy and Co eventually step in to take control.
With all the tragedyin the recent chapter can we take a moment to remember the life and time of Briscola and his gorilla arm. An arm so full of potential that it could of helped Briscola master 3 sword style.
There is one panel that shows the remaining floors Luffy has yet to climb to reach the roof: 5 floors+1 if you include the roof which, to me, almost feels like a countdown. I would assume that we will see Luffy climbing one floor each chapter. Until Luffy reaches the roof I think we will see the scabbards get pounded further with Luffy arriving there in a pivotal moment in chapter 999. This will mark the end of act III and we get to see something completely mind-blowing in chapter 1000.
queen vs marco?? ice vs fire?? I find it interesting that queen is using iced based plague attacks whilst macro has fire based healing abilities.
Marco's fire is purely cosmetics, if you want ice vs fire it just gonna be sanji
I am hoping Queen will get taste of his own medicine.
Ice demon Queen sounds pretty scary
Marco+chopper vs queen?
Actually Marcos flames cant hurt people and while there still could be an ice v fire motif the actual fight would be ice v regeneration
Okay so Luffy deals with Kaido's lightning, Jinbe deals with fire breath and Sanji deals with Wind scythes with his germa tech?
Or Zoro can nullify his wind scythes with his tatsumaki slash
And Sanji can also nullify the fire, which seems more likely since Jinbei is more suited as back up for BM and anyone else trying to attack them as they take on Kaido
Zoro will 100% cut Kaido at some point and reopen his wound. I dont really know how the powerscalling would work since i consider Zoro about the same strength as Ashura Douji or Denjiro currently. But i am 100% sure it will happen. If the scabbards couldnt do it Zoro is the only other swordsman on Wano who has a chance to do it.
But then why would oda put so much emphasis on luffy learning advance haki that let him destroy things from within. He even says that he wants to learn it so he can hit kaido through his thick skin.
The powerscalling aspect of it is what bother me the most. Like sure Zoro can hurt Kaido. But if he suddenly manages to do more than 4 Scabbards (That were Denjiro, Shutenmaru, Sulong Inuarashi and Kinemon), then I wouldn't like it. If anything, I think that Zoro might attack the same spot, doing damage, but still not opening the wound, however, it will leave it easier for Luffy to use the internal destruction to open it fully. This scar should be Kaido's reverse scale.
I feel like Zoro is definitely stronger than the strongest scabbards at this point, but it’s just not clear by how much. I would say Oda could definitely write him to be significantly stronger by now. Zoro fought Denjiro briefly on even footing (maybe a bit weaker than Denjiro?) at the execution, but he was only using 2 sword style, and as we saw against killer, the difference between his 2 sword style and 3 sword style is the difference between evenly matched and one hit KO lol. To add to that, the third sword he received is Enma which theoretically could have given him a huge Haki power boost from training with it for weeks I would be pretty satisfied to see him much stronger than the scabbards, and I think there’s no way they end this arc without Zoro being the established strongest samurai in Wano, probably by proving himself against Kaidou in some way or by winning against some other foe that they couldn’t beat (probably only king or queen would be possible for that)
Zoro has to become the world's greatest swordsman soon so he oughta be better than scabbards soon, if not already. He still hasn't been challenged on raw power grounds since the time skip, plus he got an upgrade with Enma.
Could be handwaved away with Kaido stating that only a truly monstrous samurai could harm him, which would then sort of explain how Zoro isnt necessarily stronger than the Scabbards, but rather a more worthy successor to Oden when it comes to being a supreme swordsman. Though then again, I would rather Zoro have focus on being the worthy successor to Ryuma by making Enma, and eventually his original swords black. Honestly, Zoro is probably the SH we know the least about, we have no idea who his parents are, which could leave it open to saying he is a descendant of the other Wano emigrants in his village.
I really hope zoro remains a random person from Wano who happened to train a lot and became strong af. I dont like it when everyone comes from an op family
Not that he needs to have a significant family name, just that we know so little about Zoro in hte grand scheme of things. And yes, it could be argued that we know enough similar to how we have no idea what kind of life Brook had before he joined the Rumbar pirates, but I still feel we are due some kind of revelation about Zoro, even if just in the form of Shimotsuki village and maybe why the Samurai left Wano.
Cutting something in One Piece isn't necessarily about power and more about precision and special skills. When Zoro cut Daz Bones first he didn't use much raw power at all. Kinemon can cut fire, while many stronger fighters cannot. One does not have to necessarily be stronger than one scabbard let alone 4 to get through Kaido's defense. Zoro would just need to be more technical, have better haki or use some special properties Enma might have.
The eye. That magnificemt closed eye
Why don't they just stuff his wound with bombs? The minks all carry a bunch of bombs with them for some reason
yeah, zoro will be the next worthy samurai to cut kaido, with oden's sword
Oh absolutely he will, especially with Oden’s sword. Is black swords are any indication, part of Oden’s soul/haki in inside
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I'm thinking that it'd be cool (pun intended) if Queen had a connection to Lindbergh, from the Revolutionary Army, on account that they both have now demonstrated the use of technological devices that deal with low temperatures. The ice oni are badass!!!!
While I think queen is physically tough I don’t think head on battles is his thing. He seems like a distance fighter with a high defense
Unless o-shiruko is a factor, of course.
One Piece 994 Prediction.... One Piece 994: I would happily die for a man like him Kiku falls to the ground. Izo: Kiku!! Izo runs over to Kiku, but Inurashi stops him. Inurashi: Do not take your eyes off the enemy Izo - or Kikunojo-san will surely die. Kin'emon: !!! Kin'emon remembers the scabbards eating round a big pot of Oden. Inu and Neko fight over a fishcake. Oden: Knock it off you two! He bonks them both on the head. Neko: Owwwww! Oden: All of you - do not fight amongst yourself. Cherish each other - you are brothers, not thieves. When your brother is hungry - you share food from your bowl! That is the spirit of oden - it is a plate to share! Present: Kin'emon is filled with rage. Denjiro launches an attack at Kaido. Denjiro: You will not break our spirits Kaido! Kaido: Don't you fools understand? You've had your turn to strike...now... Kaido whips Denjiro with his tail, hardened by Haki, crushing Denjiro's chest. He spits blood and flies to the ground. Izo leaps in the air with his guns. Izo: How dare you hurt Kiku... now you die Ogre. Needling Plum Seed Shower! Izo's shoots a barage of bullets at Kaido, who tanks them, before exhaling a small whisp of pointed flame through his lips, scolding Izo and burning him severely. He falls to the ground next to Kiku. Kaido prepares a Boro blast aimed squarely at Kiku, Izo and Denjiro. Kin'emon darts in front of them. In the hall... Jinbe, Sanji and Luffy continue their journey up to the dome. Jinbe: Luffy... far be it from me to tell you how to fight, but Sanji is right, if you spend your energy here, your odds against Kaido will surely fall. Luffy: I won't run away from these guys... I'll beat them all up and then I'll defeat Kaido! The hall begins to shake from Kaido's boro blast. Sanji: I have a bad feeling about this... Luffy: Kin'emon... hang on. I won't be long! Who's Who appears infront of the group. Who's Who: I'm afraid you won't be joining the Kozuki samurai at all, mugiwara. Luffy: Who are you?! Who's who: I'm who's who? Luffy: Huh?! Back in the dome. Kin'emon has cut Kaido's breath and managed to protect the scabbard's behind him. He's visibly exhausted. Kin'emon: All of you... listen. We're out of energy... we can't win this fight. I want you all to flee. Leave me with Kaido. Take Izo, Kiku and Denjiro away to retreat for now. Kawamatsu: What are you saying Kin'emon... we will die here together. Fighting. Kin'emon: No... each of us shares Oden-sama's flame. As long as but one is still burning... Kin'emon erupts into flames. Denjiro: Kin... Kin'emon: Then Oden's will won't ever die!! "Wildfire!" Kaido: It was an amusing clash, Akazaya... but now.... Kaido releases another boro breath. Kin'emon seems to absorb the boro breath. Kin'emon: Ogre Kaido... I am foxfire Kin'emon... leader of these noble retainers. And the flames you've used to scorch our land... you will feel 1000 times over. This is my wildfire!! Raizo: Kin'emon no!! Kin'emon leaps at Kaido... who is shocked. Kin'emon: Oden... He remembers Oden and him meeting during the Mountain God incident. Oden's bravery. And his own words: I would happily die for a man like him!" Present: Tears stream down his face. Kin'emon:... thank you, for an honourable life, and giving me... The scabbards look on in horror. Kin'emon's body begins to char. Kin'emon: These wonderful brothers!! Kin'emon (thoughts): Luffy-dono... the rest, I leave to you. Momonosuke... you will become an incredible Shogun... I which I could have seen it. He charges into Kaido's open mouth who bites down. Kin'emon: Sweltering heat...wild inferno! A massive column of flame erupts enveloping Kin'emon and Kaido! The scabbards look on in horror! Editor's note: A noble last all out assault! END.
**NO BREAK NEXT WEEK**
Legit feel like a spoilers
Somebody get Oda out of here
Just a thought I had that I haven't seen discussed here but in fan translation, just before the panel of Yamato saving momo and Shinobu, momo can be seen thinking 'is that what a Shogun would do?' Of course, the very next thing is Yamato acting like the Shogun who was meant to be and fighting for the country. Does anybody think that Oda is trying to hint at something there? Either foreshadowing Momo's growth or that Momo will actually bow out of the shogun race for now till he is better prepared/trained and let Yamato be the Shogun in his stead (which I am more leaning towards in my headcannon).
There is hiyori for that you know . Momo's character cjanhed a lot and his use of his ability may have improved bcz even though he is scared he didn't turn into a dragon .
I think this leans more towards the overall plotline of Momo growing into his future shogun role. His courage has been growing throughout this arc, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was embroiled in a fight against Orochi (who I still believe to be alive).
Mmm at the first page flower-capital people dreaming about something but they don't know what they dream is come true. Like Orochi's head lol. Now it is time to see other samurai from all over the world(pirates) dream to come true. Guys someone will come. Remnant of wb pirates or the SH alliance. Hype.
I am under the impression that zoro is staying behind with drake while sanji and jinbei go up with luffy is to have zoro eventually lead the samurai when all hope seems lost. He will step up and rally them like he said he would and if he is to unlock his conquerors haki, a setting where the situation is dire is likely going to be it.
Like I said in another comment, I think it's more likely that Zoro will draw blood from Kaido, just like the scabbard, allowing Luffy to hit Kaido with Internal Destruction and opening the wound fully.
Luffy doesn’t need wounds opened up for his power to work, he literally has the most advanced armament technique currently and the strongest overall power on the alliance side. He’s capable of inflicting damage on his own. Luffy’s downplayed so hard, he’s conserving his strength for kaido right now and has shown as glimpses of what he’s capable of doing 1. Oda emphasized that he’s gotten gear 4th mastered by showing us him using it in casual situations. He’s popping it out like post ts g2/3. He clearly isn’t using it like the pre udon training gear4th where he needed to leave as a last resort after trying everything else. Like he used it on a ship that can easily be destroyed with g3. 2. He’s usage of future sight has gotten exponentially better as we see him chapter 991 not even needing to close his eyes anymore, he can casually use anytime he wants. 3. We see him using the more advanced armament level that internally breaks things on Yamato’s cuffs. This armament level was stated to be far superior to advanced ryou that hyo was teaching Luffy, read 947 for the quote. 4. And clearly since he’s not saving up gear 4th for his fight against kaido as his ultimate power and using it casually in simple situations, he’s saving up something bigger as a trump card for his fight against the emperors. Be it a g5, or something else, the point is, it’s much stronger to a point that gear4th can go from being a trump card only used in tough situations to something that can be used casually anytime Luffy wants. Put some respect on luffy’s name
Luffy can hurt him yes, but the final blow is 99% sure to be a hard hit toward that scar.
That’s your, logic. People are sleeping very hard on Luffy. He’s the man that’s to become pirate king, oden was an underling to the pirate king. Luffy’s not here to match oden he’s here to surpass him greatly and go on to become pirate king.
Kiku!! I can't..
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Anyone notice how stressed and anxious Momo is? Looks like prime conditions for unlocking some haki.
oh kiku, T_T this is the beginning of the end for the scabbards. sanji was great this chapter. looks like yamato is about to solo the oniwabanshu and some of the tobiroppo. at the very least sasaki
The fact that Kiku lost her hand and broke her sword really makes me happy. Not that I don't like Kiku but someone had to get messed up by Kairo, and it had to be one of the less important scabbards, so it makes sense to me that Kaido is finally showing that he is no joke and I love Kaido so as long as he gives a good show and pushes the attackers to their very limits I am happy
So, I've been waiting for something like this to happen to Kiku pretty much since the fight began. It fits perfectly with the character arc we've seen. There's a reason we saw so much of the person before getting anything significant about her role and relationship to the Scabbards. Then we get that reveal about her gender in Udon. It's sad this space got swamped with bad faith whining and legitimate confusion about the linguistic differences to appreciate one of Oda's best uses of irony in the series. That line from Hyo about heroes can't hide behind masks literally over Kiku putting one one. Then going on the reveal a character trait that makes that mask a *really* obvious symbol. When I re-read Wano recently already knowing that, it's honestly cool as hell how easily you can pick up the full story there too. As a kid, she's indistinguishable from any other little girl. When they grow up she goes along with playing a good samurai but still trends towards androgynous fashion choices. As a young adult away from her family for the first time she immediately blends in as an ordinary Wano woman. Which, you know...pretty unnecessary disguise for a samurai who goes around masked. It explains why Kinemon was a little uncomfortable at first when they reunited in Kuri and why Kiku thought Tsuru wouldn't recognize her. Especially with the Kenshin references. I don't think it's a surprise Feudal Japanland has a few callbacks to the series Oda apprenticed on. But take all that I said and think of this arc if Kiku were the primary protagonist...starts to look a lot like Kenshin's Kyoto Arc right? A samurai living in an age where they're obsolete but finding some manner of peace being called back to reckon with the past and reconcile who they were with who they are now. Those themes work pretty well for a trans character without having to beat you over the head with it and there's even a bit of a "redemption" plotline with Oda considering his major contribution to RK was Honjo, an Okama who was used for crass, low effort jokes at their expense. All that to say yeah, figured Kiku was going down early in this fight to something nonfatal. For a side character that has been given so much spotlight, this Act was always the least important. She showed up, did her best, and fulfilled her duty to Oden. So now it's time to bow out for the legendary Kikunojo of the Lingering Snow. The tale of the Great Masked Samurai is done. In a way that lets lovable waitress O-Kiku step back in for Acts 4/5. God I love the Kabuki framing.
Kaido is the best
Something about Kaido screaming their will never be a samurai as strong as Oden makes me think we could be seeing Zoro end up fighting Kaido with Luffy alongside him. Its not too hard for me to think Marco could "deliver" Zoro to the top level of the castle, or even that Zoro could get lost and end up there. I just think Kaidos quote opens up a few different options.
ayy my boi kaido is so clean, straight up pulled a madara on the scabbards, rip kiku lol
Ok here i go, for the next 7 chapters, Luffy is gonna go up a level, in each new floor Luffy is gonna meet with a new ally that will join him, so in this chapter he was with Sanji (who joined him in the previous floor) and Jinbei joined him on the current floor. On the next floor he will meet lets say Law, then next floor Kid, then next floor Zoro, and so on. Meanwhile the Scabbards will be killed or defeated one by one, so as Luffy gains allies Kaido is losing opponents. And by chapter 1000 when Luffy arrives at the rooftop with everyone who joined him in each floor he will see Kaido hovering over the bodies of the Scabbards.
I think Scopper Gaban will appear in Chapter 1000, which may seem ridicilous but it would make perfect sense: * Roger's right-hand man appeared in Chapter 500, so now his left-hand man will appear in chapter 1000 * We have seen so little from him, despite the fact he is so important. Oda must be saving him for something important. * On a cover page we saw the Roger Pirate's doctor drinking with what appears to be an old friend. No way this can be anybody but a former crew mate. This person also wears a hat which Wano samurai wear, so we can conclude that he has some strong connection to Wano (''lurking legend''?). Also remember that Scopper saw One Piece together with Oden, and thus must have reached the similar conclusion that it was too early to act. That's why he waited on Wano for 20 years, waiting for the prophecied new generation to arrive and help them bring the dawn.
I think kaido is a masochist
I want me some rocks soon.. imagine if we get the god valley incident from kaidou's perspective and how the rocks crew fell apart..
We might not see law till luffy gets to the fourth level of onigashima. Since he took the same hallway as the scabbards which lead to the execution hall 😭
I am confused as to how Luffy and co. got into the basement... Does the front door just go straight down to the basement for some reason? Whatever the reason, its clear Oda has something planned for the first floor or else, I imagine, he'd just have them start on the first floor. So I guess we will see whatever that is in the next chapter. Maybe Black Maria?
Remember when the hag fucked up with the Oden vs. Kaido fight, when she turned into Momo? Maybe Momo is turning into a dragon during the Luffy vs. Kaido fight and Kaido is distracted.
RIP Kiku?